Nets have some hope coming into the year with new Russian billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov and new head coach Avery Johnson. PF Derrick Favors is a nice complement to Brooke Lopez and will help with the Nets rebouding. Expect a much better defensive team from the Nets this year under Avery Johnson who has been stressing defense all preseason. Troy Murphy is out and his bad defense and good outside shooting will be missed. The Nets bench is thin on offense but is solid on hustle and defense.

The Pistons return pretty much the same sad sack team that went 27-55 last year but were beaten down by injuries. T-Mac off the bench is not going to make much a difference. The Pistons offense barely sniffed 100 points in the preseason and they will be a defensive team again this year.